Understanding Trafficking

10.1163/ej.9789004154056.i-247.11

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Chapter Summary

This chapter analyses how our understanding of trafficking has evolved over time. It starts with an examination of slavery and the slave trade in ancient times as the origin of trafficking can be traced back to those practices. The chapter continues with an illustration of early views on trafficking of human beings. This is done through an examination of five key international treaties on the phenomenon which were adopted in the first part of the Twentieth Century. The chapter identifies core elements in the definition of trafficking under the Trafficking Protocol by comparing it with that of smuggling of human beings adopted by the Protocol Against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air (Smuggling Protocol). It provides a detailed analysis of the core elements of trafficking in the contexts of migration, gender, organised crime and human rights through a review of literature.